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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043430">Treats and punishments</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry'>ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Number Five | The Boy Whump, Sickfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:02:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,186</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043430</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a few weeks of happiness, Five starts getting ill.</p><p>But this is no common illness. Someone has a grudge, and is going to make sure he suffers. </p><p>Sickfic!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Number Five | The Boy &amp; Diego Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy &amp; Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy &amp; The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), Number Five | The Boy &amp; Vanya Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>440</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Five could do, for the first time in his lifez something completely foreign, even alien to him: treat himself.</p><p> </p><p>He had saved the world twice, he had prevented the apocalypse, an apocalypse that was supposed to happen no matter what, that was set in the timeline. So yeah, all those people who were walking around, laughing, shopping, taking trains and watching movies were alive and breathing thanks to his invaluable efforts.</p><p> </p><p>He'd managed to save the world and save his sister, he decided he want to get himself nice things.</p><p> </p><p>During his life, there had been no place for treats. At all. When he was a kid and dad was alive, "the satisfaction of of well accomplished missions" was supposed to be enough. They weren't supposed to long for more things, he provided them with "appropiate" and "sufficient" toys and items like that, and longing for more was frivolous and greedy. So no fun for Five.</p><p> </p><p>The apocalypse was hell. It really was hell on earth, and just surviving was a constant struggle. He'd almost died many times - starvation, sickness, depression, all taking a toll on him. He would have loved to have movies, or candy or anything that brought any joy. He had the books he'd found, and that was it. There were more important things than him and his happiness, or his sanity. The world was at stake.</p><p> </p><p>During his time with the commission food was around him, but the execs didn't give them much room, budget wise. They had money to either buy themselves a basic lunch or a couple of drinks, and Five usually chose the latter. Besides, killing took away his appetite. Every day at the commission he'd felt it was wrong, he'd wanted to escape, to get rid of them, of the handler, of the targets, of his memories. Of what he'd done and kept doing.</p><p> </p><p>Buying himself nice things was out of the question.</p><p> </p><p>But now... Now he could finally breathe. Now he could enjoy himself if he wanted, and he could get himself anything he wanted, anything he craved. He'd earned it.</p><p> </p><p>They had the old man's money.</p><p> </p><p>His siblings encouraged him, told him to do it, told him that yeah, he deserved it, told him to go and live life.</p><p> </p><p>It surprised no one that he started with fancy coffee. The most exclusive roasts, the highest harvests, the best varieties. At some point he decided that he wanted sweeter stuff too, and even tried his hand lattes and nonsense like that.</p><p> </p><p>Some of them were just sugar and water and had no right calling themselves coffee. But others... A touch of pure vanilla in a sea of black coffee. Creamy sweetened condensed milk of a tiny espresso cup. And something slightly nonsensical but that his youthful taste buds seemed to love: a mint chocolate mocha. So so chocolatey.</p><p> </p><p>He got the habit of going to the café and getting himself that obscene treat (he'd taken Klaus one time, so that he would tell the cashiers that yes, his dad allowed him to drink coffee) (Klaus was his go-to dad because he was down to anything, no more qualms or anything) (also he did look like a guy who'd had a kid in his late teens and now was like "sure, kid, have some coffee) (and he was probably the only one amongst all of them actually naming his kid" Five).</p><p> </p><p>A mint chocolate mocha meant that the world was fine, that it was still going round, that Vanya hadn't lost her marbles, that Klaus hadn't told them the dead were coming for them, that Allison wasn't getting executed for rumouring someine she shouldn't have. A mint chocolate mocha meant he could stop, and enjoy life for once. He took books to the Café, notebooks, sometimes he just enjoyed seeing people come and go.</p><p> </p><p>He'd missed having people around so much in the apocalypse. Even if he didn't know them, would never speak to them. But they were there. So was fancy coffee. So were his brothers and sisters.</p><p> </p><p>Alive and well.</p><p> </p><p>He was allowed... to live.</p><p> </p><p>For a few weeks, everything was great. He would read several books a weeks, now that there were so many available. He beat Luther at pool, gave Diego fighting advice, chatted about everything with Vanya, and had his delicious coffee. It was too sweet and it clashed with his rash, often bitter personality, but it was a symbol: that not everything had to be bitter anymore, that now he was allowed sweet things.</p><p> </p><p>It was too good to be true. Couldn't last.</p><p> </p><p>Some three months after the start of the coffee bliss, he started feeling... wrong. The world seemed to wobble around him, tilt on its axis. He got dizzy over nothing, over the smallest movements.</p><p> </p><p>An strange light-headedness appeared out of nowhere, blurring the letters, making him read the same line over and over and still not get what it was supposed to say. Couldn't keep up with his siblings' conversations.</p><p> </p><p>He didn't say anything, not wanting to break the illusion of normalcy, of niceness. Not wanting to admit that sonething wasn't working properly. It took him so long to get there... he didn't want to lose it so soon.</p><p> </p><p>So held rails and walls when he got dizzy spells. He pretended to get what his diblings were saying. He wanted to hold on to his new life so bad...</p><p> </p><p>But it was gone.</p><p> </p><p>He'd treated himself too much and now he was paying for it.</p><p> </p><p>After throwing up his favourite drink ever, sprawled on the bathroom of the Café, a couple of tears made their way down Five's cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>He knew that this was no ordinary illness, sonehow. He knew that he was only going to get worse without anyone finding out why. The bathroom spun around him, slowly but in a threatening way. </p><p> </p><p>A couple more of tears. </p><p> </p><p>Well, it had been nice while it lasted. </p><p> </p><p>*</p><p>Julianna was happy. Happier than she'd ever been since that damned time-travelling assassin had murdered the love if her life. For the good of history, just following orders, all that was bullshit. </p><p> </p><p>Sure, it had bugged her a bit that he was in the body of a kid, but those were his eyes. The eyes that offed his love, the eye that took his hopes away. Well, now she was going to take his. </p><p> </p><p>Five would start deteriorating, and his light would go diminishing, little by little, until he died in terrible pain, while his family watched, powerless to do anything. Julianna had researched poisons for a long time so it would be long, and it would hurt. Hurt a lot. </p><p> </p><p>Now all she had to do was wait, and then enjoy the show. </p><p> </p><p>And then watch him die. </p><p> </p><p>Yes, Five was going to die. </p><p> </p><p>The good days were over. </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This was supposed to be his moment.</p><p>He had saved the world, he had saved his family, he had more or less got used to this new and smaller body. It was his moment to enjoy life for once, maybe keep exploring the edges of his powers, be able to enjoy the fact that there was people on the streets! He had people that cared about him!</p><p>He'd had so many plans beyond coffee for when things calmed down, walking through the city for hours to see everything that had changed since he'd left at thirteen, museums, parks, boat rides... But now he couldn't even get out of his room without falling against a wall, too dizzy to walk straight.</p><p>Five wanted to cry. He had to get sick now? And he wa smart enough to know that this wasn't just a flu. This was something that would take time to fix, something too serious for simple drugs to heal. So now he would have to spend time on bed, alone and too dizzy even be able to read...</p><p>Crestfallen, he went down to the kitchen, where he found Allison and Diego arguing about something. Five tried to pay attention to what they were saying as he poured himself some coffee, but he was finding it harder and harder to focus on anything, his headache making every word fuzzy.</p><p>He looked at his coffee mug with a heartbroken expression, and soon his siblings realized that something was not quite right.</p><p>"Five?" Diego asked, frowning."You good?"</p><p>"Why wouldn't I be?"</p><p>"Well, you haven't said a mean word since you came, and have actually walked here instead of blinking. Something is up."</p><p>"You look a bit flushed." Allison added, and approached him, immediately putting her hand in his forehead. It was blessedly cool, and Five closed his eyes, feeling relieved. "You're burning up, Five, why didn't you tell us?" she sighed. Of course he wouldn't say anything until he collapsed, of course. "You don't seem to have any other flu symptoms, no sneezing, no cough... Are you feeling anything else that feels wrong? Does your throat hurt, does your stomach?"</p><p>Five didn't want to be a weakling. He also didn't want to be confined to a bed for the rest of the week, maybe even longer... But Allison looked so worried, and Diego behind her looked even more worried big dark eyes beseeching him to tell the truth, so, yeah. He had to tell.</p><p>"Dizzy. Nauseous. Been throwing up for a few days."</p><p>"No wonder you look so pale and gaunt." Allison wanted to scold him for not saying anything, talk to him about the importane of looking after himself... But he was already feeling miserable enough. Her lecture about how he shouldn't hide injuries or illnesses from them and how they were happy to look after him would have to wait for a bit.</p><p>"How many days is a few days? Most stomach viruses only last 48 hours, don't they?"</p><p>They did. This was something else.</p><p>"Like maybe four, five days? I don't know for sure."</p><p>The worry on his siblings' eyes only increased. It was not like Five to sound so confused and helpless.</p><p>"Why don't we take you to Grace, yeah? I'm sure she'll be able to make you feel better." Diego said, being possibly the softest Five had ever heard him.</p><p>He let himself be taken away to the infirmary, feeling absolutely depressed - but hoping that yes, maybe Grace would be able to do something.</p><p>She wasn't. She couldn't find anything wrong.</p><p>The fever was there and it was only climbing, and she could see that Five was in some distress, but she couldn't figure out any cause. There didn't seem to be any direct or clear cause, which meant they couldn't fight it, couldn't fix it.</p><p>And Five was only getting worse - by nightfall his fever had gone up to 103 and what had been a slight stomachache had beome full on pain, so now he was made a ball in the infirmary bed, holding his stomach tightly, letting out small moans of pain.</p><p>The only coherent thought that kept reapeating itself was that he deserved this, that he was being punished for all he'd done, for being arrogant and pigheaded, for killing all those, for thinking... For thinking that after the monster he'd become he was allowed to have a family and live a life.</p><p>This was his fault. This was his punishment for thinking he was allowed happiness.</p><p>*</p><p>Julianna was happy. She'd installed a teeny tiny microcamera of her own one of the nights, in the infirmary. The ones from the house had been disabled, which made her job much easier.</p><p>Now she was able to see poor little Number Five toss and turn in restless sleep, cry in pain, get worse and worse. Just desserts.</p><p>It hadn't been an easy plan at all, she'd had to find poison so rare that wouldn't show up in bloodwork, that killed but not too fast, that could be introduced in the house without suspicion and would target only him. But she managed.</p><p>She planted on of those air freshener dispensing devices, that automatically let out a bit of poison gas into the air, in an air duct that ended in his room. It was going to be slow, she knew, because Five was a resilient guy in a young body (she would have preferred if she was killing the actual old man she'd seen murdering, but there was some pleasure in ending every version of Five by ending this kid). And she wanted it to be slow.</p><p>Every time she thought about her fiance... He'd have a life to live, too. Plans. And maybe someone else had given the order, but it had been Five who'd hunted him down and pulled the trigger.</p><p>She could see the pained expression from the miscrocamera.</p><p>Good.</p><p>Suffer, little child.</p><p>Suffer for what you did.</p><p>*</p><p>"Now, what is this meeting about?" Klaus said, yawning. "Please, pleaseee, tell me the world is not ending again, it's always so tiring.</p><p>But this was no time for jokes. Allison and Diego had called a meeting with all the siblings, to let them know of what was happening and try to find solutions. It was Diego who spoke, the expression of worry (almost fear) still etched in his features.</p><p>"Five is ill. Grace can't find anything wrong with him, and you know she has the best medical programs and the latest equipment. She' can't find anything wrong but he's only getting worse."</p><p>"Worse?" Vanya was now mirroring Diego, a expression of dread in her face. Five was very dear to her and the notion of him being in pain very troubling.</p><p>"He has a high fever, and keeps holding his stomach in pain. It was just dizzyness this morning, but his deteriorated a lot during the day."</p><p>"And what do you expect us to do?" Luther said. "We're not doctors. We can't fight mystery diseases."</p><p>It was sad to say, but it was true. But Diego had a theory, that Allison very much shared.</p><p>"We think this was a targeted attack." He explained. "Maybe someone from the commission or someone close to anyone he killed. It's probably poison, whatever is doing all the damage - it's not a virus, or a bacteria, or any type of microbe. Something so strange..."</p><p>"I know we are not doctors, and hell, we don't know where to start trying to find this out." Allison continued. But Five has saved us time and time again, and we have to find a way to save him too. He's just started to live again, and he's in pain. We have to do something."</p><p>Five would have been touched, if he'd known. But he was lost in fever dreams, in pain and anguish and guilt, in nightmares.</p><p>And somewhere, someone was watching in delight.</p><p>They wouldn't find her. Not in time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vanya hated seeing him like that.</p><p>Looking so young, so small, so ill. Throughout their entire childhood and when he came back, Five had been a paradigm of strength, of determination. No matter how much he went through, so matter how near the deadline, Five was strong, Five had a plan, he was smarter than everyone else and knew what words to say to get people in motion.</p><p>Five was not this, he'd never been this. Weak.</p><p>He was breathing loudly in his bed, wrapped up in a million blankets because he felt cold despite being being burning up. Still shivering, even with a 104 temperature, almost fucking boiling. His fever had taken a turn for the worse in the last few hours, and now even breathing seemed to be a terrible chore.</p><p>Vanya was trying to cool him down running a wet handtowel through his face and neck, but she didin't if it was useful at alll. Five was somplace between wakefulness and slumber, between consciousness and oblivion. His eyes opened and closed, but he never seemed to see Vanya.</p><p>And she... she was on the verge of tears.</p><p>"Five, hey, Five... you gotta... You have to listen to me, okay? You have lived through the apocalypse, being shot at like five dozen times in two weeks... You can't let this take away all of your hard work, and just..."</p><p>he bit her lip. What good were her words? What use?</p><p>"I wish I could do more for you, you know? I wish I had the power of healing, or a super bright mind like yours that could identify whatever's hurting you. I hate seein you in pain so much, you know? It hurts me too. And everyone is losing it too, Diego is like a madman, going around looking for clues... Allison is rumouring people right and left so they will tell her the truth about anything they may have done to you, but no luck so far. And Klaus gave a blood sample from you to one contact of his that's apparently some chemical genius, to at least try to identify the molecule, or radiation, or whatever. Whatever's causing you all this pain."</p><p>Five was quiet. It was out of character and wrong, it was bothering, it was painful.</p><p>Sometimes Vanya felt like he was going to speak, but he just let out a little moan and held his stomach tighter.</p><p>She sang him some of her favourtie songs, ballads, lullabies, anything that she felt might soothe him. Meds had stopped working a while ago, (not that they did much in general, something about the difference's in Five's metabolism to accomodate teleporting made them less effective than for others), so the only thing she could do now was try and making comfortable, soothe him when he had nightmares, get him to drink some water when he was more alert.</p><p>Remind him that he wasn't alone. And that he had people doing everything to get him better.</p><p>Like Diego, storming in with an angry expression.</p><p>He'd spent the whole day going from one place to the other, from the commission, to the houses of children and significant others of people that had been killed... A lot of people would have been happy to see Five dead, but no one seemed to have the skills to use such a sophisticated poison and most of all, get it inside the house, or inside Five.</p><p>He'd roughed up the people from the coffee house Five used to go to, and got a sample to Klaus' guy, telling him to get him results now, or else. And he'd been fairly scared, so they got results sooner than expected. All that he'd picked up at the coffee house (cups, sugar, water, coffee...) had been clean, but there was an unknown substance in Five's blood, something that seemed to be gaseous, airborne.</p><p>Diego had searched Five's rooms and its surroundings (he hadn't slept since Five's fever got bad) (he would sleep when he'd found the cure) (and made whever had done this pay), he found some little air freshener thing that smelled funky. He bagged and took it to Klaus' guy, but was almost certain that this was what had made Five so ill. A targeted attack, like they had suspected.</p><p>Someone was killing Five.</p><p>They had no fucking right to do that.</p><p>"How is he?" he asked Vanya, even though the pallor and sweat and little noises from his brothers were enough to paint a vivid picture of his brother's state. He was bad.</p><p>"He's getting worse, he's vomited the water I've been giving him. We are going to need an IV, but I just... I didn't want to hurt him anymore."</p><p>"You do what you gotta do." he said. "Has he been awake at all? Have you been able to talk to him?"</p><p>"Not since he told me he was cold last night. I keep hoping that the fever will break, and and he'll start getting better... But he doesn't have many reserves, you know? Of fat, of energy, or anything. He's clearly resilient, I mean after all that time in the apocalypse... But I don't know, I feel like this maybe the last straw, and that if we don't find the solution soon..."</p><p>"Don't. Don't say it, Vanya, don't even think it." Diego looked at his brother, so aple, so small, so... seemingly small, vulnerable, harmless. It made him angry. "He'll get better. We'll make sure."</p><p>He left for the kitchen, ready to down another cup of coffee, or even an energy drink (he didn't normally, but Vanya was right, Five couldn't last long with that fever, time was short).</p><p>Diego didn't think he was dumb, by any means.</p><p>He was good at many things, he was especially valuable in investigations. But Five had meesed with people througout all of time and space, and that was harder to manage. He closed his eyes. He had to think like whoever had done this.</p><p>Five... Had an awful smile. Thought himself better, smarter. Got on people's nerves. Made them hate him, made things personal. Hummmm.</p><p>Yeah, that was why it was being gradual, and not just a bullett wound to the head. It had to be slow. He had to suffer, he had to have that smile wiped off his face.</p><p>But what good was him suffering if you couldn't see it?</p><p>Wait.... wait..... wait!!</p><p>He searched the informary and found it. It was small, almost invisible, but Diego happened to be a bit of a nerd of spyware. And he found it. Ahhh, this, this! This tiny camera he could trace, he had friends in the one store that sold it, he would get a despcription, maybe even camera footage.</p><p>He spoke to the camera, rage in his eyes.</p><p>"I'm coming for you. You will curse the day you chose to mess with my brother."</p><p>That was a promise.</p><p>He looked at Five one last time, Vanya asleep in her chair next to his bed.</p><p>And shit, for once...</p><p>He gave a smal kiss to Five's forehead.</p><p>"You just hold on, okay? I'm getting you help. You just keep breathing for us, we'll fix you. We will."</p><p>They had to.</p><p>Any other option was unthinkable.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Klaus was explaining what news he had, which he’d found out that may help Five.</p><p>"It doesn't have a name, apparently? It's not identified. Yet. I didn't want to tell my guy that it may be a poison from the future, but yeah. That's whatever is hurting Five, apparently is like... a harmless gas on its natural form? But when it gets in contact with people's skin it gets inside them and can be poisonous. From the experiments my guy has done (he was very curious), the bigger the person or animal or whatever, the smaller the damage, so, if it had been Luther there would be not much to worry about..."</p><p>"... but Five could die because he's so small." Allison finished.</p><p>"Yeah. And obviously, because it's not any known substance, there's no known cure."</p><p>"Our best chance is the perp having an antidote for it." Diego said. Fortunately he had good news on that front.</p><p>"I have the woman who bought the camera, and I have her in the different security cameras coming towards us. It's her."</p><p>Diego showed them a picture he'd printed from the shop, showing a woman possibly in her fourties, with long fair hair and a mischievous smile. The brothers gathered there (Luther was watching Five) immediately felt anger at the woman's smile, at  her happiness, at her damn face.</p><p> It was because of her that Five hadn't been able to get out of bed for three days, why he hadn't been able to eat, why, after so long fighting, he'd lost days of his life to illness, to fever, to pain. She had hurt their brother, and it was not okay. Now it was their turn to hurt.</p><p>"How do we find her?" Vanya said. This was possibly the angriest they had ever seen her in a long time, white on her eyes and fists, barely controlled power wanting to burst.</p><p>"I'm not sure... She paid cash, she didn't give a name, she did leave a number in case there were problems but it's a burner, very hard to trace - and what few notions of her in security cams we'd found had been coming here or to the shop - I have a feeling she's cooped up somewhere, just  watching the footage... Of Five."</p><p>"But you got the camera, right? So now she can't see him." Klaus said.</p><p>"There was another one. I pretended I didn't see it. I think it can be useful."</p><p>"Oooh, it can." Allison said, a plan already forming. "We can call and say that there's been an issue with that model, that it stopped working after a while. The she should go back to the shop to get the new, non-defective battery. That's what matters to her the most, right? She won't want to stop."</p><p>"And we'll be waiting for her." Vanya added, with a dangerous smile.</p><p>"You guys get Luther, I'll stay with Five." Klaus said. "I want her roughed up good."</p><p>"We all do."</p><p>The time for payback was here - they would her and the world that no one messed with their littlest/oldest brother. No one was allowed to harm Five.</p><p>*</p><p>Klaus had been on the verge of death many times.</p><p>He knew that part of you wanted to let go, wanted everything to stop, wanted the pain to end. The temptation to stop fighting was there, and it was sweet. It promised peace.</p><p>And that was something Five had had very little of. He'd spent his life fighting, fighting to be allowed to be free when with dad, fighting to survive for all those years, fighting to get back to them, fighting to stop the end of the world, and then again. A whole lifetime, never resting, never having peace.</p><p>And when it finally felt like he could rest, hell, even treat himself after all those year of near starvation and total isolation... They could that away from him, and now he was once again, fighting for his life.</p><p>His breathing had become more laboured, and Grace had put him some oxygen vi nasal cannula, to help him. It was painful to watch.</p><p>Klaus moved his sweat soaked hair, so it would cover his face, so he could feel his brow. Still burning up, dammit, how long could he last like this? Their Five, their long lost brother, who'd begun to live again after so many hardships...</p><p>His jokes deserted him. All Klaus could feel seeing his brother like that was sorrow.</p><p>"But don't you worry, Five. The others are getting the woman who hurt you right now. She'll have the antidote, and you'll be fine, you'll see"</p><p>He caressed his brother's face, hoping for some reassurance, a miraculous recovery, just... just Five calling him an idiot would be wonderful. But nothing.</p><p>Only fevered silence.</p><p>Only pain.</p><p>*</p><p>Julianna realised as she arrived that it was a trap. The biggest Hargreeves threw her against a wall, with a growl of "Fix him!". She smiled. Again.</p><p>"Or what?"</p><p>She screamed as a knife stuck her hand against the floor under her. Another one reached her in a shoulder.</p><p>"I know all the ways so you won't bleed out too soon. You really, really don't want to me piss me anymore that I already am. Give us the antidote and we may let you live." Diego said, fury in his words.</p><p>"I heard a rumour that you gave us the antidote." Allison said, wanting to get this over with. Five needed that antidote now, they would with the woman when their brother was out of the woods.</p><p>"I heard a rumour that I was immune to your stupid power." What? "It'll take more than that for me to break.</p><p>"Why are you doing this?" Vanya asked, realising that just hurting this lady was not going to help.</p><p>"He killed the love of my life."</p><p>"But Five was just a middle man, a worker. It's the person who gave the kill-order you should be angry at - Five never decided who to kill. It's not on him."</p><p>"He pulled the trigger!"</p><p>"On someone else's behalf!"</p><p>"I don't care. He still deserves to die. And he will. Writhing in terrible pain, while you watch powerlessly."</p><p>Vanya was losing it. A white flash flooded the room and Julianna was totally knocked out, on the floor of the shop.</p><p>Allison saw something fall from her pocket, and after recovering from the blast wave of the explosion, she approached her and got it.</p><p>"Guys!" she screamed, ears still ringing. "Howling's motel! It's got to be there!"</p><p>As they were going to the motel, with Julianna tied up and stashed in the trunk of their car, they received an ominous text from Klaus.</p><p>"His heart stopped a few minutes ago, we started it up again, but.... You need to hurry."</p><p>They really did.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They hadn't worked with a deadline so small and so important before. </p><p>Never. </p><p>Knowing that you wer working against the clock, that every moment that you didn't have an answer was a moment closer to your brother's death... Well, it made everything harder, more complicated. Hearts were thumping on chests, clocks were getting louder, ticking away precious seconds, when Five couldn't have many of those left. </p><p>The others realised, suddenly and with horror, that this was how Five had felt during those fateful two weeks, with limited time, knowing that his siblings would be dead if he didn't do anything soon, knowing that every second spent was a second less in their lives... knowing that the lives of those he cared about were in the balance, and that it was up to him to save them. </p><p>A big responsibility. </p><p>Vanya knew, she knew she shouldn't have knocked the woman out, that they needed her to save Five, but... She hadn't thought. She had just acted, and she had lashed out, because her brother was suffering and this woman was enjoying it. And it wasn't fucking fair. It was painful, actually, and her powers decided it had been of hearing her. </p><p>And now they were losing time. And time was something that Five didn't have. </p><p>* <br/>"</p><p>They'll be back soon, I'm sure. Maybe they are already back with the cure, huh? Rushing around like maniacs, but so close to having you back and well." Klaus said, as he tried to sweep Five's feverish brow. </p><p>He'd been delirious the last hour, screaming unconnected syllables, trying to shield himself from enemies that weren't there, or just plain sobbing, using what little energy he had left to cry. The only coherent thing he'd said in the last hours was that he hurt, and Klaus knew, as he watched his little, pale sweaty brother under the sheets that this was the end. </p><p>Five wouldn't survive another night. </p><p>He was too weak from all the fighting, not just this bout of sickness, but all his life. Fighting to be heard, fighting to see the next day in a wasteland for most of life, fighting against the entire course of history so that his siblings could live, and wouldn't have to suffer what he did. Five was great at surviving, but everyone had limits. </p><p>And yet, Klaus refused to think about that. </p><p>"Just... just minutes, Five. You stay with me for a tiny bit longer and our heroic sibings will come around, with a miracle in their hands, and you will get better. You hear me, Five? We're gonna rescue you, just like you've done us time and time again. It's your turn to be rescued, Five, just hold on a while longer. They're almost here."</p><p>*</p><p>"... and we still have no idea of how to get in that safe, or if there's even an anitdote in it. Maybe she didn't care about getting poisoned herself, maybe she didn't bring anything." Luther was not being useful. </p><p>They had gone through her wallet and used anything resembling a date to try and open that safe, they had invented specific dates in her life, they made so many combinations and all for what, for nothing. </p><p>The truth was that they didn't know enough about this woman, and that maybe she wasn't using any part of life to be the passkey to that safe. Birthdays, that kind of stuff could be too obvious. Maybe it was something completely random, something with no connection to her. Thought on the spot. They were lost. </p><p>They tried other methods, of course. Luther had tried to punch it open, Diego had tried to lockpick it, Vanya had thought about exploding it, but was afraid that the contents could be evaporated. Nothing was working, nothing was enough, and they were quite sure that their last and only hope was there in that safe. </p><p>There was nothing else around that could be of any help. Diego, Vanya and Allison had been through every corner of that room, trying to find something, but there had been nothing, barely a hint that someone had been staying there. It had to be on that safe. Just had to be. If it wasn't... Then Five would be gone. </p><p>But they didn't have time to panic, or to be sad, which was crap because it was all they felt like doing. </p><p>"This chick" Diego started "was obsessed with Five, right? Why not 55555?"</p><p>"Diego, guessing is not the answer, it's a waste of time..." Luther started, but was cut. </p><p>"I think it worth a try." Allison said, and tried it. It didn't work, sadly, but it gave Vanya an idea. </p><p>"Ok, I know this sounds stupid, but sometimes stupid is the best cover. 12345?"</p><p>And... and it didn't work either. The</p><p>Hargreeves sighed, groaned, punched things. </p><p>That was when Diego saw it, a paper saying "motel room's safes default password is 00000 but can be changed at will" - what if she never thought she would be found out, so didn't change it?</p><p>"Five zeros, Allison, five zeros!"</p><p>Miracle of all miracles, the Five zeros worked. </p><p>The safe opened, and something was inside. </p><p>"....what? No!!!"</p><p>They were two small bottles in there, one labeled "5", the other labeled "<strike>5</strike>". Which meant... what? The five one was the one that had to be given to Five to hurt him, or to save him if needed? The one with the strikethrough five was there to kill him or to undo what the Five bottle did? WHICH WAS THE GOOD ONE!?</p><p>"If I hadn't knocked her out..." Vanya complained.</p><p>"She wouldn't have helped anyway, you know that." Allison answered. "She would have just played mind games with us, make us waste time."</p><p>"Time we don't have" Luther said, again, quite unhelpfully. </p><p>"The way I see it, there's a fifty percent chance we take the right one, which is a fifity precent chance more than he has now." Vanya said. "We just have to pick one and hope it won't kill him instantly."</p><p>There was a chance of that, they all knew. And it was a risk that no one wanted to take, but when the alternative was losing Five forever...</p><p>"The one with the line. I say that again, she didn't think we would get this far, that she would be found out, so it wasn't convoluted. Five is the bottle for Five, and the other is a counteraction measure, just in case." Allison decided. She wouldn't forgive herself if she hurt Five, but... A decision needed to be taken. And there was no more time for speculation.  </p><p>*</p><p>They rushed back. <br/>Klaus was on the edge ("oh, god, guys, please tell me it's good news I can barely hear his breathing, his pulse is going crazy, I feel his heart is going to give out for good any minute, and...") but Five was still alive. <br/>Vanya cradled his head. </p><p>Diego gently forced down the transparent liquid down his mouth. </p><p>The Hargreeves sibling held their breaths. <br/>The countdown stopped. </p><p>Time stopped. </p><p>And when it started again....</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Only the finale left! Will they choose the proper bottle? How will Julianna be punished? Coming soon!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Julianna knew that something had gone wrong. </p><p>She was almost certain that Five had to be dead by now, but something... wasn't right. </p><p>Other than the fact that she was in a prison cell, after for some reason confessing to a lot of her crimes, like poisoning a child, which was not going to make her exactly a popular inmate. No, no, something else was wrong. </p><p>The last she remembered before volunteering herself to the police... It was Hargreeves siblings. A fuzzy half-memory of being in a trunk, and someone speaking to her... But there was something more, and something before. </p><p>Being knocked out. Those freaks trying to get the information about the antidote out of her, and being so goddamned angry. And all for what, just for the sake of that murderer? He didn't deserve any of that, none of that at all. </p><p>But it was good, now, right? Five was dead. </p><p>He had to be. </p><p>But was he?</p><p>*</p><p>It was Klaus and Vanya who got Five's head up, got him in a half awoken state so he could drink the potion. </p><p>His breathing was raspy and uneven, too loud and too laboured, and his skin had taken an ashen tone, glistening a bit because of the sweat. His eyes were unfocused, opening and closing with no coordination and as he was moved he let out pitiful moans and sounds he never would have let himself. </p><p>There was practically nothing of Five there, he was almost gone. And this little bottle... Well, it could be the poison that finished him off. </p><p>The others were prepared for the worst, of course. They had a crash cart, they had the other little bottle, they had taken measures so that even if they were wrong, Five could at least try to be saved. He had done everything he could and more to save them, they had to do that for him too. They owed him as much. </p><p>Allison, Luther and Diego looked, tense as they'd never been, while Vanya put the liquid down his mouth as Klaus held their youngest/oldest brother. After so long thinking him gone, this, now, could really be the end of Five. They had been cheated into thinking that they still had a lifetime with their brother since he looked so young... </p><p>Five closed his eyes. Made an almost content sound. What did that mean? Was he happy because the pain got bit better or was he happy because in death there was no pain? Had they made the wrong call? Would they have to wait long to find out? Not knowing was fucking agony. </p><p>"Is he breathing?" Diego asked, frantic. Vanya nodded. </p><p>"Then it hasn't immediately killed him at least" Luther said. </p><p>There was a tense silence after that, no one really knowing what to say, all eyes focused on the little guy on the bed. </p><p>It was that little guy who got saved them from certain doom, by warning them, by breaking a scary contract with a scary corporation. And he'd been shot at and prosecuted through time and space for that, just so he could warn them. </p><p>And when he found out that it was Vanya that ruined things... He found a way to save her too. Despite his time as an assassin, Five hadn't killed her, even if he could have. He saved her, and everyone else, by doing something as risky as time travelling a lot of people to the past. To give them time. </p><p>To save them, again. </p><p>And they hadn't been there to save him from the apocalypse. </p><p>They hadn't been there to save him from the commission, from the Handler and her manipulation. </p><p>They kept failing him and now... </p><p>Now was their chance to atone. To really properly save him. </p><p>Start being there for him, the way he was there for us. </p><p>After some minutes, Five's blotchy breathing became more rhytmic, more... calm. </p><p>After half an hour, the moans disappeared, and the tossing and turning. He seemed more at peace, he seemed... well, like he wasn't suffering that much anymore. The others didn't want to get ahead of themselves, but they couldn't deny that things were looking up. That it seemed that they'd chosen the right bottle, that maybe their brother had some hope. </p><p>That Five could breathe again, maybe live again. </p><p>He woke up after about four hours, sleepy eyes trying to focus. </p><p>"...what... why's everyone here? 'sss the world ending?"</p><p>"No, Five" Allison said, warmly. "We were just worried about you."</p><p>*</p><p>Julianna didn't understand how she had visitors. She was from another time, for God's sakes, who could want to see her here? But maybe it was someone that she'd left a message to, someone that could help. God, she so badly wanted out. </p><p>But the person on the other side was someone that idn't want her out, in fact, it was one of the people that had put her in this place. Diego Hargreeves. </p><p>"Good morning! I see prison i treating you well, you look horrible."</p><p>Julianna was fuming. Why was this guy here? Why was he so happy? Hadn't his brother just died?</p><p>"I only came to tell you that Five's alive and well, thanks to your great idea of not changing the hotel safe. Look"</p><p>There was a picture of a pale Five smiling to the camera, surrounded by his siblings. </p><p>"Still a bit ired and weak, but he'll be better in no time. He's very resilient, our brother."</p><p>Julianna wanted to say something, scream at the world, but words deserted her. This was not fair, this was stupid, why was Five alive!? After all that she'd done to hurt him, and the only thing she'd managed was to have his siblings band together and show that little assassin just how much they loved and cared for him. </p><p>The opposite of what she wanted. Fuck. </p><p>After leaving the visit (and trying to forget Diego's smug smile or the picture with an ALIVE! Five, Julianna decided that she would try to find another way to exact revenge. Because this couldn't stand, after all she did... But she couldn't think of anything. No plans, no strategies, nothing. Huh. </p><p>She heard a rumour that she couldn't make any more harmful plans, and now she left there, in the jail cell, frustrated out of her mind because he couldn't thin of a single thing to hurt Five or anyone else. </p><p>She screamed. She had really failed, really fucked up. </p><p>And now she was being punished. </p><p>*</p><p>Five was having his coffee, but this time he wasn't alone in that coffee shop. </p><p>He had everyone around him, everyone that had fought so much to get him back, so he coud live, so he could have his happiness, his family, his treats. </p><p>For so long, every time things went wrong it had been up to him and him alone to survive... But now he could breathe, and rest, and let other people save the world and his life for him. He had people looking out for him, people helpig him survive. </p><p>And that was a real treat. </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was having a mocha and wrote this lol</p><p>Full on a sickfic next ep, sorry about the uneventful first one. Just wanted to illustrate how much it hurts por Five to lose his first and only treat. </p><p>Thank you for reading!!</p><p>Hope you liked!!</p><p>If you did, it would make my day having your comments :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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